India, Oct. 8 -- Over 10,000 women qualified for the Joint Entrance Examination (Advanced), or JEE (Advanced), for the first time in six years (2021-2026), coinciding with the Supernumerary Seats Scheme (SSS), which changed their odds of studying at 23 Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs).

Of 43,112 women registered for JEE (Advanced) 2026, 10,107 qualified, taking their qualification rate to 23.4%, the highest in six years, according to IIT Roorkee's Joint Implementation Committee (JIC) report dated October 3.

In 2025, 9,404 women qualified out of 43,413 registrations, achieving a success rate of 21.7%. The number of women qualifiers increased by 7.5% even as registrations fell 0.7% to 43,112 in 2026. In 2026, women accounted for 23%...